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Vice President Jejomar Binay denied that he asked real estate developers in Makati to give him condominium units for free while he was the city’s mayor.
Former Vice-Mayor Ernesto Mercado had claimed that Binay owns several condominium units in Makati, which he said were “payments” for the issuance of building and occupancy permits and delays in tax collection.
Speaking before the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee inquiry on allegedly overpriced Makati buildings last year, Mercado claimed that Binay asks for condo units from developers before their permits are issued.
“Ito ay pinag-uusapan ng mahabang panahon na si VP Binay ay may unit sa lahat ng condominium sa Makati. Hindi naman lahat. 60 to 70 percent lang (It’s been talked about for a long time that VP Binay has a unit in all the condominiums in Makati. It’s not all. It’s just 60 to 70 percent),” he said.
In an interview on dzMM on Wed, Nov 25, Binay himself denied this accusation.
‘‘Allegation na naman yan. Mukha yatang hindi mo narinig yung bahagi na yung tinuturo nila – naglabas ng denial ang tinuturo nilang may-ari ng mga building na iyon (That’s just an allegation. It seems you didn’t hear the owners of those properties denying that scheme),” he said.
Ayala Land president and CEO Bobby Dy had confirmed the property giant has not given any condominium units to Binay in Makati City.
“This is not our business practice nor have we encountered a request of this nature. I cannot speak for the other developers,” he told ABS-CBN News.
Other developers have also come out to deny Mercado’s allegation.
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
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